Last Wednesday evening, the ground floor of the Community Commons was filled with the sounds of music, laughter and ferocious rivalry. The source? A game night hosted by the University of Denver’s South Asian Student Alliance (SASA). This night of fierce competition, complete with FIFA, Fall Guys, Chess, Carrom and, of course, pizza, is just one of many lively events SASA puts on throughout the year.

SASA’s recent Game Night was an open event, meaning that students did not necessarily need to be of South Asian descent to participate. Attendees of last week’s event represented a range of cultures. Multicultural participation such as this contributes to SASA’s overarching goal of fostering an appreciation for South Asian culture.

Kavleen Singh, a third-year accounting major and new president of SASA, believes that a key part of SASA’s mission is, “creating community for the South Asians here on campus just so that they know that they have people who are South Asian and people who want to hang out with other South Asians and get to know our own culture as part of being on this campus.”

This quarter, SASA’s former president, criminology and political science double major, Minnie San, had to step down from her position due to her early graduation. However, as she ends her time at DU, she takes with her some precious memories centered around the alliance. Some of these standout moments include SASA’s incredible success with this year’s Diwali event.

Diwali, the festival of lights, is an Indian holiday celebrated over five days. The celebrations symbolize the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil. Having joined SASA in 2020, San was thrilled to have Diwali celebrations back in full force on the DU campus after the pandemic-caused hiatus.

“I was on the board last year as the inter-alliance liaison,” said San, “We put on some events, and Diwali was one of our biggest events last year. But this year, we did the same thing, and we had an even bigger turnout. That’s one of my favorite moments.”

SASA’s Diwali event even helped to bridge gaps between student populations at DU. San described how the celebration helped bring the undergraduate and graduate South Asian alliances together.

“With the grad students it’s lonelier because they’re coming straight from India, Pakistan, from [all over] South Asia, so it’s more lonely for them to find people of color,” San said. “So, seeing that and being able to dance, have fun, and share Diwali with them, it was a really monumental moment for my career here at SASA.”

Singh hopes to carry this enthusiasm into future SASA events, effective immediately. Though the winter term may be coming to an end, the beginning of the Spring Quarter will bring yet another spectacular SASA celebration.

“Spring Quarter, second week, April 7, is going to be one of our bigger events. It’s Holi, which I would summarize as the festival of colors. It’s the welcoming of spring, and it’s a really big festival,” said Singh. “There will be a color dance, there’ll be music, food and we’re planning to have henna artists come. That event should be taking place on Campus Green by the library outside.”

For updates on SASA’s Holi celebration and other upcoming SASA events, be sure to follow the alliance’s Instagram, Facebook, and Crimson Connect pages.